Mr. Yen has a new prediction for Japan's currency

After starting the year at about 120 per dollar, the Japanese
currency surged as high as 107.63 early
on Monday to its strongest level since October 2014, when the
central bank unexpectedly boosted quantitative easing.

But the yen may have even more room to advance this year, argues
the man nicknamed "Mr. Yen" for his ability to influence the
exchange rate in the 1990s.

Eisuke Sakakibara, the former Finance Ministry
official who was in charge of currency intervention in Japan and
who is referred to as Mr. Yen,
said in an interview with Bloomberg that the currency may
appreciate to 105 in the next few months and could get to 100 by
year-end.

A yen at 105 per dollar is "no problem" for Japan’s
economy, he argued, adding that any currency intervention could
be done only with agreement from the US and other
counterparties.

But not everyone shares
Sakakibara'sbullish outlook. According
to the median of forecasts compiled by Bloomberg, analysts expect
the yen to weaken to 118 this year.

Still, for what it's worth, Sakakibara correctly
predicted the yen's current rally
earlier this year.

And last month he argued
in an interview with Bloomberg that the yen's appreciation
wasn't "the result of monetary policy or because Japan's recovery
is strong," but rather because "the world economy has become very
disorderly."

"The problems in the Chinese economy won't be so easy to
sort out, and global growth is stagnating," he added. "In that
environment, the yen will necessarily strengthen. We're in the
first phase of that now."

Investing.com

The yen has remained strong despite various comments
from Japanese officials.